Cam Newton Gets No Respect
I wrote a huge rant that I’ve edited down about a million times, and I’m just going to scrap it because I don’t want to sound preachy and almost everything about this subject has pretty much been said by better writers than me already, and I doubt any of my readers share a different opinion on this. Suffice to say that Cam Newton gets a ludicrous amount of hate that is completely unjustified. Cam Newton has been nothing but an exemplary human being since he came into the league, and anyone who thinks he’s a thug, or immature, or anything like that because he did a little dance is a moron. Instead of talking about that, I’ll try to use a different example.
A few weeks back Kirk Cousins led a big comeback against the Bucs and stomped into the locker room, jacked up on adrenaline, and screamed YOU LIKE THAT? at the cameras. And the sports going public ate that shit up. It became a meme. Kirk started selling shirts. It’s already a running joke and Skins fans will use it for the rest of the season. Opposing fans will use it as a taunt when Kirk screws up. It was a fantastic little candid moment in sports history.
Picture Cam Newton doing it instead of Kirk Cousins.
And for the hell of it, picture Kirk Cousins doing the dance and “taunt” instead of Cam Newton.
The stories would be completely different, wouldn’t they? People would laugh at Kirk dancing and taunting. Cam Newton would be getting crucified for being pumped up after a big win and expressing himself in a boisterous manner (Don’t believe me? Exhibit A: Richard Sherman). Poor Cam. He couldn’t be much better of a person and he’ll never get half the respect of his peers, simply because he dares have personality, and dare I say it, be black. It’s messed up. Cam is the most fun player in the NFL right now. No one looks like they enjoy the game of football more than he does. He’s an absolute joy to watch play football, because he’s one of the few players who really seems to understand that he gets to play a silly game for a living. Football is sport, sport is a game, games are entertainment. Sports are not and should not be serious business. Cam is a marvel for embracing the fun. I love Cam Newton and you should too.
Honestly I don’t get it. There are a ton of worse players in the nfl who deserve hate but don’t get it. I’ve liked Cam since he joined the league. Fun to watch. The whole deal with him handing the touchdown ball to panther fans is awesome.
I just finished re-reading the NFL South poker. What’s on the agenda for the AFC south and the NFL east
Also, cam should be mvp, but sportswriters won’t let him
I’m not sure he should be MVP, but he should certainly be in the conversation
You were sure wrong with this prediction, weren’t you.
“No one looks like they enjoy the game of football more than he does.”
Counterargument:
http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s–dHDc_-wR–/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/1521782055811846473.gif
I seriously think I’ve watched this gif loop at least 100 times. I can’t get enough. Someone please help me.
Sadly enough… imagine that was Cam, and not Drew Stanton, doing that on the sideline. What do you think the reaction would be?
Better yet, do you think that Drew got a letter from some mom claiming that he’s ruining the sport of football by not thinking of the children? http://www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/article45163665.html
The rod up that woman’s butt must have a rod up its butt
False. If that was Cam on the sideline celebrating like that he’d lose cred from other black sportscasters (Come on man!) for dancing like that but nobody would be upset about it.
Cam has celebrated many many times before and not received any grief. His Superman shirt rip celebration is iconic and has been widely admired for years. This time it was different.
This time he was celebrating on the field with a dab dance (no problem there): then an opponent took issue with it (that’s his problem not Cam’s): then Cam did the “hit dem folks” dance at the opponent (that’s actually an insult and if the refs had been culturally educated enough to know what it meant then Cam would have been penalized for taunting).
It wasn’t a case of poor ol’ picked on because he’s a black QB Cam innocently celebrating. He did taunt an opponent and many people recognized that for what it was and took offense to it.
Using the phrase “culturally educated” in the context of some stupid hip hop dance garbage is idiotic
I dunno, man. Looks to me like Stanton’s enjoying NOT playing the game.
I’m amazed she didn’t blame him for the kid being in the tree in the first place.
I think some of it has to do with the fact that “he” stole a laptop in College. He did not steal the laptop he accidentally bought a stolen laptop.
if he didn’t know it was stolen.. why did he chuck it out the window when they came for it??
also i think a lot of his hate comes from the fact the NCAA botched the investigation of his dad pimping out to SEC schools for his final year of eligibility.
I was going to make an argument for how it’s not because he’s black because you see big-name black players celebrating and having stupidly wonderful amounts of fun playing the game, but the only one still playing I could think of was Steve Smith, and he’s more of a ball of pure fiery rage expressing his fury at his opponent than a goofball having fun. I hate bringing race into things because it makes things so divisive and polarizing, but I think you may be right about this one.
For what it’s worth I love Cam. Yeah he did some fucked-up stupid stuff in college like stealing laptops and cheating on exams, but as much as having your computer stolen sucks – especially in the digital age – and as much of a douche move as cheating is, he paid for it, getting kicked out of Florida(Technically he transferred, but he did so days before facing a committee for his actions. He transferred the same way Nixon quit) and having to go to a crappy community college in the middle of nowhere in Texas before a D1 school would take him again. People deserve second chances, especially when the thing they’re getting a second chance for was something stupid they did when they were eighteen, and they’ve been nothing but exemplary since. Plus look at some of the people on that Florida team around him, Tebow aside; Percy Harvin, who’s proven to be a headcase, and Aaron Hernandez, who’s a complete lunatic. It’s not a stretch of the imagination to me that, if he didn’t get along amazingly with Tim, he may have started hanging out with those two(Percy was a sophomore and junior when he was there, and Hernandez got there the same time he did, the idea that Percy may have been a role model for him and Hernandez a buddy isn’t entirely unlikely) and they may have had some bad influence on him. Good people do stupid things when knuckleheads influence their behavior.
It’s not because he’s black.
It’s because he’s a QUARTERBACK. Him being black may or may not be part of it. I would really like to think it is not a part, but I’d be lying if I said race had absolutely nothing to do with it.
There’s still a set of shitbag old farts who think the QB is some sacred position only inhabitable by the very best America has to offer. Guys like Roger Staubach: married to his school sweetheart, would quit football to go fight terrorists, never appears to make it about “him”, blah blah blah. Remember all the shit Kap got when he became a starter because he had tattoos? People still gave him shit because he didn’t show up to press conferences in a suit and tie, or dared to wear his hat backwards. It’s stupid and ridiculous.
I liked Cam’s response to the critics. If a team doesn’t like him dancing, don’t let him score. Simple.
Well said Joel. I think it has less to do about racism and more to do with the romantic idea that the quarterback position is a leadership position and as so quarterbacks are held to a higher standard. Example, Randall Cobb, Warren Moon, and Byron Leftwich were never called thugs because of their race. Cam Newton, (young) Michael Vick, Ryan Leaf, and Johnny Manziel are called thugs; not because of race but because their actions are not perceived to live up to that romantic idea of the flawless hero leader quarterback.
So where is Aaron ‘discount double check” letter of concern? Let’s call it what it is because when we don’t we fail to address the issue. It is about how some whites view blacks and I’ll even venture to say its even about how some black people look at blacks! Certain behaviors I’m black people can be viewed I’m a negative light when the same behavior on a white person has entirely different view, which is insane because in the end humans are the same, I think I forefathers were spot on in the declaration of independence.. We hold these truths to be self evident.. I hope you know the rest.
We’re also leaving out the fact that Carson Palmer told fans to suck his dick last week. HE DID THIS! THIS WAS A THING! DURING THE GAME!
Person A: “Cam Newton is a thug.”
Person B: “Cam Newton appears in television ads for yogurt.”
Person A: “Touché…”
As someone who works in the yogurt section of the supermarket I’m still waiting for Cam Newton to appear with cheerleaders to jump into my arms. It must happen during my off days.
I’m for Cam, I like Cam, but he did taunt an opponent and it’s actions like those that make people perceive Cam as a thug.
It’s not a race issue. Manning and Brady and Moon and Staughbach and and Cunningham and Russell Wilson and every other guy regardless of color didn’t do a “hit dem folks” dance, or anything similarly disrespectful, to an opponent and so they are not perceived as thuggish.
When you have that position every move is judged and it just so happens that even if Cam isn’t a thug he still does occasionally slip and behave in a manner associated with thuggery. It’s sad but people make judgements and form their oppinion on 10 second video clips and reading headlines.
Just as Cam says “If you don’t like it, don’t let me score” he could be advised “don’t give them a reason” and conduct yourself always according to the standard that you wish to be perceived.
Come on man!!
counterpoint: phillip rivers is a prodigious trash talker who routinely taunts his opponents, and the media narrative is that he’s a fun lovin’ southern lad and john gruden does entire segments about how much he loves rivers’ trash talking.
rivers is also a huge bigot who publicly supported rick santorum for president but hey he’s white and wears a bolo tie so no one cares.
People are jealous that he’s tall, handsome, and has a million dollar smile.
This is one of the best comics you’ve drawn. Keep being awesome!
I love Cam. He’s so much fun to watch and he’s grown a LOT over the years. From being immature in college, to a whiny kid with a towel over his head sulking, to being a true leader and straight up CARRYING that offense. I’ve heard Panthers fan talk about everything he does for the community and it’s awesome.
He will always have a “thug” tag though. You can blame all of the media and college sports analysts. If Tom Brady can’t lose the Golden Boy Who Can’t Do Wrong tag, Cam will always be a Thug. Sadly.
The racism isn’t all wrapped up in this one incident. It’s everything before, during, and after. Stolen laptop? Kids do dumb stuff in college. Wearing a towel and sulking? He’s worn a towel on the sidelines since he was at Blinn and probably before then, and when you’re not used to losing, but are suddenly on a losing team, you’re probably not going to be very cheery. Cam has been held to a different standard, and that standard smells a little racist. But that’s just me, I’m a little sensitive to that sort of thing.
IT’S BECAUSE HE’S BLACK DAE THINK THAT?????????????????
That woman would only have seen Cam Newton punching a cat.
I think this is your best comic ever. Thanks for the laughs, Dave.
I think Cam’s only competition for most entertaining player might be Chandler Jones after his Mic’d Up session, but all of your arguments I concur with and find on-point. Nobody’s calling Carson Palmer a thug for, and I kid you not, pelvic thrusting on national television.
“rawwr,” of course, translates to “death to America!”
And here I am, this entire time wondering why everyone thinks Cam Newton looks like a Pug.
He looks nothing like the dog from Men in Black.
I hate him.
For what he has done / is going to do
To my Falcons.
Ouch.
I was pretty critical of the guy when the Panthers were losing and he was still celebrating every touchdown; you don’t dance to a garbage time touchdown, period.
Buuut then the Panthers started winning and I stopped having a problem with it; same reason I never criticized Sherman’s shenanigans, as long as he was the best player on the field he had every right to act like it. Of course, that didn’t stop other people from keeping up the criticism.
Sherman was “boisterous”?
Ehh, no, Sherman acted like a classless douchebag. If he’d danced in the endzone instead of foaming at the mouth, nobody would have cared. He also wouldn’t have gotten the publicity, and Sherman’s no dummy, which I why I think that whole thing was premeditated and calculated, which just makes him more of a douche.
He’s not a thug though.
You forgot the part where Cam gives the baby a touchdown ball.
Agreed. I’m from Charlotte, but not a fan of the team. I’m not really a fan of Cam Newton either, but I am disappointed by the lack of respect he receives from both the so-called “fans” in Charlotte and, especially, the national sports press. Your cartoon is on-point. Somebody should put this on a banner and display it at Panther’s stadium. Guarantee Newton would be criticised for NOT ripping it down AND somebody’s daughter would cry because… well that’s just what they do.